Helm, who had been on IR with a groin injury, hasn’t played since Dec. 30. The layoff marked his second significant stint on the shelf this season, as he also missed 11 games with a shoulder ailment and another 14 with back issue that lingered from the lockout-shortened ’13 campaign.

Getting Helm back is a huge boost for Detroit. Mike Babcock often refers to Helm as the best third-line center in the NHL and, in limited games this season, Helm has discovered a real flair for offense. He has 11 points through 16 games, which includes seven goals — pretty impressive for a guy with a career-high of 12.

What’s more, Helm’s speed and forechecking ability should help Detroit gain some extra momentum offensively. The team has struggled to put pucks in the net recently, and has just six goals in its last five games.

Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk has been the most difficult goalies to score against this season. Leave it to a high-level player like Leon Draisaitl to make it look this, well, “easy.”

Draisaitl scored his 13th goal of 2016-17 by capping this pretty give-and-go play with Benoit Pouliot. You can see the frustration from Dubnyk at the end of the tally, as if he was saying “How was I supposed to stop that?” (though probably with more colorful language).

Draisaitl came into Friday with five goals and three assists in his last five games, so he’s been almost unstoppable lately.